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About USAID Regulations and Policies

USAID is a huge bureaucracy in its own right. Though it falls under the Secretary of State’s purview, it is led by its own Agency Administrator, a presidential appointee. Learn more about USAID on their website: http://www.usaid.gov/

USAID was created by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 USC 2151). Congress amends the Act approximately annually, funding the agency and adjusting priorities and restrictions.

USAID promulgates its own regulations and policies that implement OMB guidance and applicable federal laws, primarily the Foreign Assistance Act. These regulations are codified in two separate titles of the CFR: 2 CFR parts 7xx, and 22 CFR parts 2xx. (Find background information on the CFR in Regulations – basic background.)

USAID’s policies are collected in the Automated Directives System (ADS), which is mostly available to the public on USAID’s website. USAID introduces the ADS here: About the ADS.

REMEMBER that USAID’s policy is not binding on award recipients unless specifically cited in the terms of the award agreement. However, that being said, USAID’s policy figures strongly in the terms of any agreement, and it can be very beneficial for the recipient to be familiar with USAID policies as background for shaping organizational policies to assure compliance with agreement terms.

As a grant recipient, you are most interested in ADS Series 300. This series focuses on Acquisition and Assistance—how USAID buys stuff and awards cooperative agreements (and – rarely – grants). Learn more about that in my Notes on ADS Series 300.